The present invention is directed to a microwave cooking composition and method of use thereof to fry comestibles in a microwave oven.
Microwave ovens have been used to cook comestibles for many years, resulting in a savings of time and effort with respect to such cooking efforts in comparison to cooking by conventional oven/cook top means.
One such conventional cooking method consists of frying a comestible in a hot frying oil or fat. However, the frying of food in a conventional manner involves the use of a frying oil or fat in amounts sufficient to substantially immerse the comestible during the frying process.
This frequently results in significant splattering of hot frying oil or fat as well as the absorption of substantial amounts of the frying oil or fat by the comestible during frying.
Hence, numerous safety and health concerns are raised in connection with the conventional frying of foods.
One attempt to address such concerns is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,410. This patent discloses a frying composition which is employed in conventional stovetop frying which comprises a frying oil or fat and an amount of an emulsifier effective to foam the oil or fat during the frying method. The patent discloses that the emulsifier may be employed in the form of a dry coating which is coated onto the comestible prior to frying.
As a result of the presence of the emulsifier, a foam results during frying which is stated to at least substantially envelop the comestible to be fried, thus enabling significantly reduced amounts of frying oil or fat to be used.
The patent teaches that the emulsifier is employed in an amount generally within the range of from 3 to 35 percent by weight of the cooking oil composition.
It has been discovered that the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,410 are not directly transferable to microwave cooking methods.
It is known that it is not possible to fry comestibles in a microwave by conventional methods involving the heating of the comestible in a frying oil or fat. While the oil or fat may become heated as a result of the application of microwave energy, the comestible will generally cook independently as a result of also being subjected to microwave energy while at the same time absorbing undesirably large amounts of the oil or fat. Also, no frying can occur as the oil or fat is not heated sufficiently in the microwave in comparison to that achieved by heating on a conventional cooktop.
The end result is a soggy or rubbery comestible that does not exhibit the desirable crispiness of conventional fried foods.
It has also been determined that the presence of an emulsifier such as lecithin in amounts of at least 3 percent by weight undesirably darkens the comestible while yielding an off-flavor.
It has further been determined, due to the different methods of heating involved in cooktop frying versus microwave cooking, that any foam which may form during microwave cooking due to the presence of an emulsifier is highly transient by nature and not sufficiently stable to enable satisfactory frying to be accomplished.